What a great start, I love it! It's so cute about the pet plant. A backpack is a backpack, but now you've put a plant in the pocket, it tells a little story. I feel like I know a little bit about whose backpack that is, like they're a character in a novel or something. Isn't it cool how art can do that? You can show just one little scene, and then the mind starts to wander into a whole universe.

About the washi tape, maybe there's some alternative that will work for your type of paper? As annoying as the damage may be, I think it's a really cool effect to have such a clean line on the edge of your work.

what the heck is up with prompts this year?!

I think I saw the prompts once before, but I just looked again in the context of what you said and, wow, yes, there's a very clear theme. Maybe someone's random idea generator is broken? :D

I'm so happy to see you doing art again. <3